How much: Adults, $27; children (2-12) $13.50. Limited Front Row: $60 (adults & children). Limited VIP (Gold Circle): $40 (adults & children). Note: All ticket prices increase by $2 on the day of the show. Pit Party $10. Tickets available at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at (800) 745-3000 and online at ticketmaster.com.

In the world of monster trucks, there is one machine that could be said to stand metaphorically taller — or six feet under — compared to others.

Grave Digger.

It's been called the "black and green wrecking machine," with reference to its colors. A pirate Jolly Roger skull and crossbones flag at the rear makes its own kind of statement. The original Grave Digger truck was born more than 30 years ago and its name is legend for monster Monster Jam performances.

Grave Digger with driver and Vermont native Jon Zimmer at the wheel will be competing at the Monster Jam running at the DCU Center Feb. 14-16.

There will be plenty of competition from other truck teams such as Batman, El Toro Loco, Blue Thunder, Storm Damage, Hurricane Force, After Shock, Krazy Train, Quad Wars and FMX.

"It's an awesome experience for me," Zimmer said of driving a Grave Digger. "Most of us guys that drive the trucks grew up watching what Grave Digger has become."

Zimmer said there are eight Grave Diggers hurtling around Monster Jam circuits January-March. There will be several other Monster Jams taking place nationwide this weekend. The goal is to accumulate points to send a team to the Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas March 20-22. If Grave Digger makes it to the finals, the truck will be driven by its creator, the legendary (and four-time world final championship winner) Dennis Anderson.

Anderson is known for driving with passion and panache, and the drivers in his Grave Digger stable can't help digging in as well.

"We drive that truck a little harder than anyone else," the 36-year-old Zimmer said. "We know the fans are spending their hard-earned money to see us drive that thing as hard as we can."

Over the course of the Monster Jam at the DCU Center, trucks will compete in racing and freestyle categories, trucking along a custom-designed track full of obstacles to soar over, or smash through.

"Take the craziest roller coaster you ever rode and try to drive your car on it," Zimmer said in describing the experience from a Grave Digger perspective.

"You just roll with the punches." Often the trucks roll over. But these trucks, as you might expect, are built tough. Monster trucks are about 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide and sit on 66-inch-tall tires and weigh a minimum of 10,000 pounds. Built for short, powerful bursts of speed, they are capable of reaching up to 100 mph and can fly up to 35 feet in the air over distances of 125 to 130 feet. Zimmer said he's never suffered any serious injuries. "I get out (of the truck) and wave to the fans."

Zimmer's childhood was spent on a farm in Vermont where there were plenty of opportunities to engage in such pursuits as driving dirt bikes and four-wheelers. "If it had an engine, I had to run it," he said.

Later, he moved on to competitive four-wheel-drive truck pulling and snow-cross racing. Zimmer has a reputation for being as good a mechanic as he is a driver, and a meeting with Anderson led to an offer to be a mechanic on the Grave Digger team. "I never looked back," Zimmer said. Four years later, he became a Grave Digger driver.

But he's hardly thrown away the wrenches.

"What fans don't see is behind the scenes. Lots of hours. I do a lot of my own mechanics."

Zimmer travels to monster truck events with a crew chief, and the two of them work on the Grave Digger truck between shows, "from head to toe," he said.

But they don't drive Grave Digger from place to place. You won't see it overtaking you (or running over the top of you) on the Massachusetts Turnpike this weekend. Trailers transport the trucks, while Zimmer and his crew chief fly from city to city.

After the January-March season, drivers and trucks take off to special events, including outdoor summer and international competitions. For Zimmer, who now lives in North Carolina and is married with a son, it's a year-round, full-time living.

When he meets Grave Digger fans he hasn't forgotten that he grew up as one himself.

He'll be happy to share some Grave Digger chat at the DCU Center.

"To me it's an honor. It blows your mind to see how much the fans know about the truck. We give our fans more time than any other sport there is."